Earth Hour puts the ‘you’ in youth in Nepal

Nepal’s youth took centre stage on Earth Hour in what was called “the biggest gathering for the environment” in the picturesque lake-city of Pokhara attracting over 6,000 youth.

“Climate change poses a major threat to the biodiversity and communities of Nepal and the Himalayas, for which Pokhara is a key entry point, is one of the hardest hit,” said Dr. Ghana S Gurung, Conservation Program Director at WWF Nepal. “Earth Hour gives people, especially the youth, the means to take concerted environmental actions and adopt climate-smart lifestyles that heals the earth,” he added.

The event saw performances by two of Nepal’s leading pop/rock artists, Nima Rumba and Abhaya & the Steam Injuns, using music as a medium to reach out to the youth on the need to make environmentally-smart choices.

Nepal’s icon of the film industry and WWF’s Goodwill Ambassador, Rajesh Hamal, and Miss Nepal 2012 and WWF’s Young Conservation Ambassador, Shristi Shrestha, were the special guests at the event.

“Music is the fabric that binds us youth; Earth Hour is a platform that gives us a shared purpose,” said Shristi Shrestha. “Through Earth Hour, I would like to call on the youth to join me to be the agents of change for the environment and to take the initiative to make a difference for a living planet,” she added.

The Earth Hour event in Nepal was supported by the WWF Network and the Hariyo Ban Program. Pashchimanchal Hotel Association of Pokhara, Restaurant and Bar Association and Pokhara Tourism Council were the local partners of the event.

“Pokhara is a meeting point between the mountains and the terai in the Chitwan Annapurna Landscape, one of the two landscapes under the Hariyo Ban Program funded by USAID and implemented by a consortium of conservation partners led by WWF Nepal,” said Ms. Judy Oglethorpe, Chief of Party, Hariyo Ban Program. “Pokhara gives us an ideal platform to showcase some of Nepal’s natural riches, from the lakes to the adjoining community forests and the recently inaugurated world peace biodiversity garden, and stress on the need to address the impacts of climate change on our natural resources,” she added.

On the occasion of Earth Hour, a clean-up campaign was also organized in the Fewa Lake as per the ongoing water hyacinth removal drive. Coordinated by the Pashchimanchal Hotel Association of Pokhara together with the support of Pokhara Municipality, the campaign brought together about 300 people including Mr. Rajesh Hamal who was the Chief Guest at the event.